Video Gaming and Online Social Simulations: Overview and Issues for Collection Development

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Video Gaming and Online Social Simulations
Overview and Issues for Collection Development

• Tom Durkin and Kelli Keclik
• Wednesday, April 16th
• 200-315 PM

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Today we will discuss

• Part 1 - Tom Durkin The social and economic
  context of the simulation/game industry as well
  as the structure/organization of academic social
  simulation and game research.
• Part 2 - Kelli Keclik Collection development and
  service issues related to library gaming
  collections, including evaluation, selection,
  purchasing, promotion, and use in academic
  libraries.

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Increasing attention focused on gaming in
libraries

• Jenny Levine
• http//www.theshiftedlibrarian.com
• Gaming and Libraries Intersection of services
  (2006)
• Gamers... in the library?!, by Eli Neiburger
  (2007)
• ALA TechSource Gaming, Learning, and Libraries
  Symposium held in Chicago, July 2007
• 2008 ALA Presidential Citation Gaming
• ALA President Loriene Roy is offering a 2008
  Presidential Citation to libraries, and
  librarians of all kinds, that use games and
  gaming as tools for learning, literacy
  development and community development.

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Some skepticism is in order

• But, gaming? In the library? Are we crazy?
• I am also skeptical of library gaming.
• Skepticism helps to protect us from making poor
  decisions.
• Gaming industry hype is overblown, and can lead
  to disappointment.
• It is important to evaluate gaming in libraries
  accurately and fairly.
• This what we hope to accomplish in our
  presentation today.

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The Gartner Hype Cycle
Gartner Inc. (2008a, b)
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Gaming and simulations are likely in our future

• Why? Because gaming is what many library users
  are interested in...
• Appeals to a wide age spectrum (age 11-68)
• May no longer be dominated by male players
• Average player is about 27-33 years old
• 65 of American university students regular or
  occasional game players (2002)
• 78 of university students play online or video
  games, usually on a weekly basis (2007)
• About 23 hours playing per week
• Anecdotally Would playing a video game ever
  prompt a student to check a book out from the
  library? About half say yes.
• (Entertainment Software Association, Jones
  2003, Reuters 2004, Salaway and Caruso 2007,
  Squire and Steinkuehler 2005, Yee 2006)

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The video game/simulation industry

• Video games and simulations already have a
  considerable history.
• Atari was founded in 1972
• MUDs (Multi-User Dungeons) developed in the late
  1970s.
• Online, real-time, graphical, multi-player,
  participatory social-simulations first show up in
  the mid 1980s.
• Habitat for the Commodore 64 (1985)
• Since the 1980s, the video game industry has
  expanded considerably.

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The video game industry market size is huge and
growing
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Competition between video games and Hollywood has
been exaggerated

• In 2004 the total US video game market size was
  about 10 billion.
• Movie ticket sales in 2004 were about 1.5
  billion.
• This kind of statistic is much reported...
• But, the video/DVD sales and rental market size
  was about 32 billion in 2004.
• More than 3 times larger than the video game
  market.
• (Mintel Group 2005 Mintel Group 2008).

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Video games are a global market
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Wisconsins future economy?

• Difficult to say...
• 2002 US economic census counted 610 companies
  with active payroll in Wisconsin that do computer
  programming as their primary business.
• Wisconsins video game industry had growth of
  11.3 in 2006, compared to GDP growth of 3 in
  2006 (Gallagher 2007).
• It is difficult to say how many companies in
  Wisconsin work on video game projects, but here
  are a few examples
• Big Rooster (Fitchburg) Talisman
• Raven Software (Middleton) Marvel Ultimate
  Alliance
• HumanHead (Madison) Rune
• Frozen Codebase (Green Bay) Soldier of Fortune
  2
• Guild Software (Milwaukee) Vendetta

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Gamers in demand as employees?

• Gamers personalities are competitive, driven,
  and goal oriented.
• A tendency toward good leadership qualities such
  as initiative and teamwork.
• An understanding of the ways that risk and
  return on investment critically intersect when
  working on projects.
• (Beck and Wade 2004)
• Could gaming research/experience on campus make
  UW students more marketable?
• My opinion may be helpful in a tech career.

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Social sciences and social simulations research

• Modeling specific behaviors and then comparing
  the models to real-world data
• Example estimating future population growth or
  likely voting trends.
• Agent-based modeling is one of the branches of
  this type of research.
• Individual agent behavior modeled in a
  simulated environment using forms of artificial
  intelligence.
• Such as economic interaction and disease
  transmission.
• UW-System International Society for Systems
  Sciences annual conference in Madison on July
  13-18, 2008

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Example Long House Valley (Arizona) simulation
of household and environment

• Kohler, T. et al. Simulating Ancient Societies.
  Scientific American, July 2005.
• http//www.wsu.edu/village/Kohler20et20al5B15
  D.20SciAm.pdf
• Axtell, R. et al. Population growth and collapse
  in a multiagent model of the Kayenta Anasazi in
  Long house Valley. Proceedings of the National
  Academy of Sciences of the United States of
  America, Vol. 99, No. 10, Supplement 3, 2002.
• http//www.jstor.org/stable/view/3057853

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Game theory research in economics

• A long history of mathematical social modeling in
  the social sciences.
• Economics and game theory
• Von Neumann and Morgenstern (1944)
• Study real games, such as chess, connect-4, or
  tic-tac-toe.
• Economists are now studying the in-game economies
  that exist within many online games.

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Academic research on games and education

• UW System faculty have been involved in this
  research for some time.
• James Paul Gee (now Arizona State)
• Kurt Squire, Constance Steinkuehler, Richard
  Halverson, and Erica Halverson.
• Games, Learning and Society
• http//gameslearningsociety.org
• http//www.glsconference.org/2008/index.html
• Academic Advanced Distributed Learning Co-Lab
  (AADLC) Wisconsin Technical College System and
  the Department of Defense.
• http//www.academiccolab.org/

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Examples of UW academic games developed/used for
the classroom

• Civilization III Kurt Squire (History,
  Geography)
• http//civworld.gameslearningsociety.org
• Valix Valley Sissel Schroeder and Jason Yaeger
  (Archaeology)
• http//engage.wisc.edu/sims_games/phaseII/anthropo
  logy/
• Critique It Michael Connors (Art)
• http//engage.doit.wisc.edu/sims_games/phaseIII/cr
  itique_it/
• Many other examples
• http//engage.doit.wisc.edu/sims_games/

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The game industry academia feedback loop

• Partnership between Electronic Arts (The Sims,
  Tiger Woods PGA Tour...) and USC
• Funded the Electronic Arts Interactive
  Entertainment Program and endowed a chair both
  at the USC School of Cinema-Television.
• Will Wright (designer of SimCity, Sims)
  influenced by
• Researcher on system dynamics Jay Forrester (MIT)
• Architect Christopher W. Alexander (Berkley)
• Psychologist Abraham Maslow
• Atmospheric researcher James Lovelock (Cambron
  and Wright 2002)

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UW System holdings game studies

• If the academic study of games and gaming is
  important, how are Wisconsin academic libraries
  doing in regards to supporting this research?
• I used WorldCat to search for materials with
  specific LC subject headings. These three terms
  appear to make up the majority of works in this
  subject area
• Video Games eg. Video games--Economic aspects
• Computer Games eg. Computer games--Psychological
  aspects
• Electronic Games eg. Electronic games--Social
  aspects
• Results were limited to the holdings of 4 year
  state schools in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and
  Illinois by using OCLC institution codes.
• Books, serials, computer media, cataloged
  internet sources, and visual media were included
  in the counts.

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Wisconsins academic library collections are
competitive with nearby states
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Wisconsins academic libraries hold significant
unique materials
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Comparison Wisconsins collections of economic
game theory materials
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General conclusions, so far...

• Library interest in using games and collecting
  game materials has increased considerably in
  recent years as the cultural/social/economic
  importance of games has also increased. It is
  probable that the importance of games will
  continue to increase.
• Social simulations, including the study of games,
  have a fairly long history in the social
  sciences, stretching back to the 1940s. Game
  studies in particular have taken on more
  importance in recent years, especially in
  educational research. Note that there can be a
  symbiotic relationship between academia and game
  development companies.
• The UW System has been actively collecting
  library materials in the game studies and game
  theory subject areas, and Wisconsin is doing
  reasonably well, but additional support could be
  warranted.

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Gaming and simulations in the library context

• Gaming used in promotional events
• Games used as educational tools
• Library collections of sims/gaming materials

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Rejuvenate the brand

• Across all regions surveyed, respondents
  associate libraries first and foremost with
  books. There is no runner-up.
• Rejuvenating the brand depends on reconstructing
  the experience of using the library.
• OCLC College Students Perceptions of Library and
  Information Resources http//www.oclc.org/reports/
  perceptionscollege.htm

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Reconstruct the experience

• I am frankly impressed and happy that a College
  Library would have video games, things that seem
  to be generally looked down upon from ivory
  towers as useless wastes of time. I enjoy video
  games a large amount, and feel strongly that some
  are socially and politically as relevant as
  newspaper articles or well-written movies.
• College Library Gaming Survey Respondent

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Gaming builds Community

• the need for libraries to be gathering places
  within the community or university has not
  decreased.
• OCLC College Students Perceptions of Library and
  Information Resources
• brands the library as a technically advanced,
  communal third place where people can come for
  informal social bonding.
• Meet the Gamers. Kurt Squire Constance
  Steinkuehler. Library Journal. April 15, 2005.
• Students cite gaming as a way to spend more time
  with friends.
• Let the Games Begin Gaming Technology and
  Entertainment among College Students

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Why else should you offer gaming events?

• Your users are gamers!
• 65 of college students are regular or occasional
  gamers
• 65 of College Library survey respondents are
  very or somewhat interested in participating in
  gaming-related events

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Wake Forest University

• Open gaming nights and Halo 2 tournaments
• Offer projectors and screens
• Pizzas, soda, and candy
• Used expertise and connections of student
  resident technology advisors
• Projectors provided by Information Services
  department
• Volunteers from staff

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Undergraduate Library at UIUC

• Guitar Hero and Dance Dance Revolution
  tournaments
• Invite speakers involved in gaming-related
  research
• Game nights promote gaming collection
• Circulate games for current consoles
• Archives vintage games and consoles

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Georgia Institute of Technology

• Unreal Tournament for LAN tournament
• Company gave them free use of software
• Food, music, prizes, and Dance Dance Revolution
• CeLIBration a festival atmosphere
• Retro gaming
• Dance Dance Revolution
• Board games
• Poker tournament, speed dating, Ninja tag

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Gaming to educate

• James Paul Gee
• What Video Games Have to Teach Us about Learning
  and Literacy
• Situated Language and Learning A Critique of
  Traditional Schooling
• Good Video Games Good Learning Collected
  Essays on Video Games, Learning and Literacy
• Learning Principles of Video Games

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Learning principles of video games

• Lower the consequences of failure
• Performance before competence
• Players high on agency tree
• Problems are well ordered
• Cycles of challenge, consolidation, new
  challenge
• Stay within, but at the outer edge of the
  players regime of competence

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Learning principles of video games

• Encourage players to think about systems, not
  just isolated facts
• Empathy for a complex system
• Give verbal information just when it is needed
• Situate the meaning of words
• Modding attitude

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Information Literacy Instruction at College
Library

• Campus-mandated communication requirement
• Library instruction as a role-playing game
• Youve been hired as an intern at the Department
  of Education.
• Your boss instructs you to find
• General information to help a first year college
  student succeed
• Data on the relationship between sleep and
  college students academic success

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How does information literacy instruction compare
to video games?

• Students search catalog prior to librarian
  demonstrations
• Performance before competence
• Start with a general search and move on to
  specific, harder to locate information
• Problems are well-ordered
• Librarians give tips and ask clicker questions as
  students search
• Verbal information just when it is needed,
  Meaning of words is situated

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How does information literacy instruction compare
to video games?

• Use of clickers grants 100 student response rate
• Lower the consequences of failure
• Doing searches with databases theyve selected
  and keywords theyve chosen
• Players high on agency tree

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How have students responded?

• Overall, librarians agree that students are more
  engaged in instruction sessions.
• Quotes from an instructor survey -
• The students seemed to enjoy the interactive
  quality of the session.
• It keeps students engaged by turning the work
  over to them quite quickly, but is directed
  enough that things don't get chaotic.

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How else can I use games in information literacy?

• Information Literacy Game at University of
  North Carolina Greensboro
• Head Hunt The Game at The Ohio State
  University
• Quarantined Axl Wise and the Information
  Outbreak at Arizona State University
• UW Libraries Academic Infusion in residence
  halls
• Clicker trivia game
• Family Feud

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University of North Carolina
http//library.uncg.edu/game/
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Ohio State University
http//library.osu.edu/sites/fye/login.php
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Arizona State University
http//library.west.asu.edu/game/quarantined/login
.cfm
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Academic Infusion at UW-Madison

• Library orientation in residence halls
• Play Family Feud with PowerPoint template
• Use clickers for trivia games
• eInstruction http//www.einstruction.com/
• 1800-3000 per 32 unit set

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Building a gaming collection

• Talk to gamers
• Survey
• Platforms
• Types
• Gaming events and other in-library play
• Suggestions for purchase
• Talk to librarians
• Interviewed David Ward at UIUC
• LibGaming Google group

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Collection Development Policy

• Questions to get you started
• What is the purpose of this collection?
• Who will this collection serve?
• What formats and genres will you include?
• What is your selection criteria?
• Where will you get your games?
• How will the collection be cataloged?
• How will the collection be displayed?

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Selecting games

• Ask your users
• Super Smash BROS MELEE Starcraft plz
• Many suggestions from recent survey
• Online reviews
• Gaming (IGN, Gamespot)
• General (Wired, Metacritic)
• Print reviews
• Library journals Voice of Youth Advocates
• Gaming journals Game Informer

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Purchasing games

• Online retailers
• New Amazon, big box stores
• Used GameStop, Half.com
• Library vendors
• Baker Taylor
• Local stores
• New and used
• GameStop, PrePlayed, Video Game X-Change

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Circulating games

• Cataloging
• Video game records are in WorldCat
• We created brief records at College Library
• May need to change existing policies
• College Librarys Policies
• 1 week, no renewals
• 2/day late fee
• 60 replacement fee

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Displaying and securing games

• Behind the desk or on the shelf?
• College Library
• Open Book Café with DVDs and audiobooks
• DVD Kwik cases
• Peripherals (Guitar Hero) kept behind desk

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Promoting games

• Displays in library
• Electronic bulletin board
• Student newspapers
• Facebook
• College Library page
• Wisconsin network
• Ads?

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Student response

• I think it's absolutely awesome that College
  library has video game rentals )
• I think it is a really cool idea and it would
  save students so much money
• Having a games station in the Library would be
  a cool way for kids to take a break from
  studying

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Future plans

• Consoles available for play in library
• Gaming event at beginning of next semester
• More games!

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Thank You!Any Questions?Please stay for the
door prize!

Kelli Keclik kkeclik_at_library.wisc.eduTom
Durkin tdurkin_at_library.wisc.edu